Carrabba’s Italian Grill

¤¤¤¤¤~~*°》》Absolutely the BEST dinner we’ve EVER enjoyed at Carrabba’s! Taylor was an especially attentive, «warm» and «happy“server; especially since we arrived much later than we planned. (my significant other is a doctor and our evening out was unexpectedly delayed) We’ve frequented this location for years. It was excellent then became just another franchise type atmosphere with franchise type food.
》》Tonight was an entirely NEW and delightful experience. The FOOD. well what I said as I took each bit… this was just continuous mouthfuls of goodness!
~~》 Mike, the new (returned) manager took the time to come outside to make sure we were enjoying our evening as well as asking how the dishes we ordered. it turns out, he was the manager before when it was excellent & now…》 he’s BACK! (Which made sense).
Mike was gracious and made us feel like special guests. It was incredibly uplifting feel our patronage meant so much. (Rare to find these days)
Mike raved about his team. pointing out how passionate & how ‘vested’ the cooks were with each dish they prepared.
Oh! The portions were HUGE! We took plenty of food home for tomorrow! This was so worth coming!
It’s difficult to take time to go out for the evening, however, we’ve decided to MAKE TIME to return to THIS MERRITT ISLAND CARRABBAS. (I’ve been involved in digital marketing before so … I had to put in that extra ‘tag’ for this location)
We want to support this team’s «vested» interest in their guests and the flavors of goodness. So, We purchased 3 gift cards.
Carrabas in Merritt Island is a definite destination resyaurant for your taste buds.
We thank Mike, Mgr. & Taylor, our server along with the rest of this Carrabba’s team for such a splendid meal! Excellence at it’s best!

My family and I were here last night for a birthday dinner. The food and the service were all excellent! They were very accommodating given that we had a baby in a stroller and we brought in cupcakes. Our server put the cup cakes in the kitchen while we ate. We brought them back out with candles lit when we were ready.

We had dinner here, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the food. We almost made the mistake of confusing this for Romano’s; glad we double checked and chose to eat here. I highly recommend it.

Normally, I don’t patronize Darden or Bloomin’ Brands chains, though I was invited to a birthday party that was being held here at Carraba’s. The experience was on par for the chain, packed with casuals and mediocre bland dishes. I would definitely not recommend this place for anyone who desires to eat actual food. Fortunately, the company made up for hateful food.

Food snob here and I love this place! Service and food is always on point and the wait is never long to be sat even when they are packed. New layout isn’t the best privacy wise but I try to sit in the bar area. Veal is delicious, house salad dressing is unique, great wine selection, love the entrees wrapped in prosciutto. Highly recommend!

I have no issues with the food — it is really great and service was wonderful. But you must clean the horrible germ doors leading into the bathrooms and the bathroom stalls. They are sticky and full of a years worth of grim. It is awful. Plus the toilet scrubber, free of its holder, that is dirty and randomly leaning in the corner apparently forgotten by the cleaner added to my discomfort. Everyone measures a restaurant by the cleanliness of the bathrooms and on this you have failed.

I don’t know what happened to the food here. At one point it was pretty good all around, but recently it seems the quality of the meals — the pasta dishes especially — has decreased. I give it two stars only because it’s not OG.

Carrabbas as really declined. This is the second recent trip to one of our favorite local restaurants that used to serve consistently good Italian at fair prices. Gone are the 2 for 1 happy hours. The muscles recipe is different and terrible. They’ve changed the bread. Extra charge for fettuccine Alfredo. Smaller portions, higher prices, less quality. The salad… awful. Next time we’re in the mood for Italian we’ll go to Demenico’s in Rockledge or Alfredo’s in MI.

This was undoubtedly my only trip to Carrabba’s. I found nothing but disappointment in their restaurant.
The server was adequate for a Denny’s but not what I would expect in a cook to order restaurant. Even though we said we were first time visitors his only comment on the menu was it had been reworked months ago. We learned about specials and even happy hour (after we ordered) from overhearing a different server.
The $ 25 chicken trio was three identical pieces of chicken with different cheese toppings. Not something to bring us back.
My custom pizza had distinctly better toppings than Red Baron Frozen, but not enough that I’ll drive back.
In short, a moderately expensive waste of a meal time.

I used to –LOVE– Carrabba’s. Like, every time I got paid I wanted to eat there. The Marsala… to die for! The bread with the herb and balsamic mixed together, excellent! They did the simplest things so well and it just grew from there. I had dishes I didn’t like but usually that was my error (bleu cheese, yuck… sneaks up on you).
…then last year (ish) they did this… remodel…and the first thing they did during the remodel was scrap the homemade bread and get the frozen, pre-​sliced junk. Which, during my last visit, they were still using… Soggy, tasteless, junk! It wicks the oil and leaves the balsamic or the other way around! There’s nothing at all good about that bread.
The atmosphere changed dramatically during the remodel, too. Before it, when I went there with my bff, my husband, or whatnot, we always picked a booth and it was sort of like we were all by ourselves. The high backs and dividers gave us privacy and the ability to talk to each other while the lights glowed softly and the smells wafted in waves as servers and other customers walked by.
I loved it.
Then…then they remodeled… They tore out most of the booths and tried to cram two 4-​top tables in each of their places as well as every spot that wasn’t a walkway. They tore down dividers in an effort to ‘open up’ the space. The tables shrank, the seats shrank, and so did my desire to ever come back. When I went right after the remodel, I –hated– it. The backs of the booths only come up to your shoulders, and the entire meal was spent staring into a stranger’s eyes. If you tried to break the stare and look away you were just looking into someone else’s eyes. It got so LOUD! I could hear people whispering two tables away on the other side of the aisle. Apparently, someone complained loud enough (which, at the time could have just been a whisper) and they put in… like…grates on the back of every other booth. It didn’t help at –all-​.
Oh, and they decided they would put a gigantic, low back, 8 or 9 top party table at the front of the restaurant. Who does that? Who wants to be hit in the face with a wall of people, sound, and deal with all that chewing and clanking right when they walk in?
I’m sure it just sounds ridiculous for me to be going on and on like this, but really, it was my favorite restaurant and it was absolutely ruined.
Anyway, on to my last visit specifically.
We were sat at the ‘booth’ closest to the front doors, the one right next to the party table, and instantly wanted to leave… but I had been craving Carrabba’s for months and forced myself to give the remodel a real try after being away so long.
WRONG CHOICE!
All night people stared at us. All night we were forced to stare at other people. We were probably the thinnest, youngest adults there, and we had to stifle ourselves from laughing at these 200−350lb people who were spilling over and seemingly teetering on the little dinky chairs. Which, before you start eating is fine… once you start eating and you have to look at 15 ass cracks throughout the meal it becomes a little sickening… And of course half-​way through the meal a party was sat behind us and the noise level sky-​rocketed. We didn’t even bother trying to talk to each other.
The food was not as good as it used to be. The calamari was great but the marinara was stock. I didn’t even remember to ask for the other sauce until after we had finished. The meat was decent but the sides and sauce were lacking. The cocktail was weak and not worth the price and the tea was bad.
Our server was new… like…bad new… He took AGES to do anything and when he did he was an utter trainwreck. He repeatedly reached over our food and drinks and spilled balsamic when he took plates away which took 15 mins to get his attention to clean up. When he came to clean it he SPRAYED THE TABLE while we were EATING. Fortunately my bf was quick enough to lift my daughter’s food off the table. However, ours was not so easy to move and that was the end of the meal for us.
I think that’s the first time in my life I requested a manager.
He was very understanding of our… displeasure…with the table spraying and gave us two gift cards. It was more than generous and I really felt like he was genuine in his apology. Seems like a great manager.
I will eventually go back to Carrabba’s…but I don’t know when, or where, that’ll be.

10 minute wait, right in in Cocoa beach, on a Friday night, food was good service was good. When in this area again will return.

The service was great first off, and they were especially busy and I did not wait so that is great. My complaint was the food taste… I had a simple Classic Combination plate, Chicken Parmesan and Lasagne with Asparagus. With the exception of the Lasagne it all tasted burnt. (The bread as well!) I will not return to this Carrabba’s and will be hard to sell of ever visiting Carrabba’s again.

We just ate there and when I explained that I needed a special diet for medical reasons they went out of their way to meet all my needs, I love this place. It’s the best send the staff could definitely teach ORMC how to cook soup!

so-​so I guess. Personally I like Olive Garden much better.

Probably the most consistent restaurant in central Brevard county. Yeah, it’s a chain franchise but it’s soooo good and there’s nothing bad to say about Merritt island’s premier Italian grill.
The owner obviously takes pride in his staff and the food quality so don’t underestimate this local favorite

For the most part I think Carrabba’s is a consistence restaurant chain the service is usually the determining factor when it comes to having an okay experience or a great experience. This location definitely works hard to provide its customers with a great experience. We were very fortunate to have Sara providing our service tonight. Not only is she a really pleasant person she provided exceptional service from the moment we were seated, her sense of timing is absolutely spot on and her customer service skills made our entire dining experience a good one.
We also had some interaction with the Manager he validated our initial feelings about this location it’s evident the customer service here starts at the top. Any place of business can have small issues or miscues during any visit. I try to never review a business based solely on a mis-​understanding or minor mistakes its how the issues are handled along with the food quality, presentation and timing that determines the overall experience.
There are a lot of dishes Carrabba’s excels at but its their ability to customize any of their offering to meet my expectations along with the attention to detail that makes this one of my favorites restaurant chains. The salads are served on cold plates, the bread is warm, the appetizers and entrees are served hot the drinks are replaced as needed. Isn’t these all the things we care about?

I stop by once in a while to pick up at the take out window, particularly if I have unexpected guests in town that I need to feed. Food is always reliable but recently something is going on with the order taking. The last 2 times we had issues with order errors. My friends picked it up and didn’t check and their little daugther’s order for chicken tenders came out wrong both times. Note to self– check the order and allow extra time in case it needs changing!

I am never disappointed when dining here. I usually save this restaurant for special occasions or special friends because I enjoy the food so much. The sirloin Marsala cooked medium with garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes started with a cup of minestrone soup is my absolute favorite meal! (my mouth is watering as I type) Yum! Last night I veered off the norm and had the fettuccine Carrabba with mushrooms, peas, and pieces of melt in your mouth, cooked to perfection chicken. Delicious. This was also started with a cup of minestrone soup. My husband decided to have the chicken Marsala with garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes. We were there celebrating the 4^th year anniversary of our first date! (Wow. A nice reason to dine at our favorite restaurant) If you have some extra money and feel like pampering yourself and someone you love I highly recommend this place. The food is delicious, the atmosphere is nice, and the staff are spot on. (I can’t promise you will have a great server. People do have a bad day once in a while. It’s called being human)

Food is always good bit not quite what it used to be. Have been coming here for over 10 years now and the portions have shrunk incredibly and the service isn’t what it used to be. Prices sure haven’t shrunk and it’s like pulling teeth just to get bread. Cocktails are also lacking in the liquor unlike before. Came here tonight for the dessert featured on Next Great Baker last night Tuscan pineapple pound cake. It was burnt and almost no whipped cream. Runny whipped cream too.

Ahh, another vacation, another Carrabba’s…
It was as you would expect from a Carrabba’s. Good food, decent wine, and above-​average service from a genuinely cheerful server (even when they had to clean up after a giant family with 4 kids left a huge mess).
No bearing on the rating, but side note — if you order sauce to dip your free bread in, they charge you for it. How much? Probably not too much, maybe a dollar or so. But if you’re the jagweed who sat in the booth behind us, raising hell because «y’all serve marsala, so why should I pay for it for my bread, I own a business HURF DURF,» shut your dumb mouth and pay your dollar for your sauce. We don’t care how well you take care of your customers down at the wholesale bathroom tile outlet. This fool ran our server and two managers through the ringer over a side of marsala until they gave him a card for a free appetizer on his next visit. «Y’all just saved a customer,» he said. Right, because the waters and 25 minutes of grief you ordered make you two fools valuable customers. But our server kept cool dealing with them, so nice work.